WASHINGTON — In light of Virginia Delegate John McGuire’s admission that he attended the insurrection on January 6, bringing the total number of Virginia lawmakers in attendance up to three, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is calling for the Virginia Republicans to condemn the actions of their members. In addition to McGuire, Delegate Dave LaRock and Senator Amanda Chase were present at the insurrection and have continued to spread conspiracies about the election. Both McGuire and LaRock are running for reelection this November. The Virginia House Republican caucus now holds the dubious distinction of having the most known attendees of the Jan. 6 insurrection in their caucus. Virginia Republicans also have the highest number of lawmakers who traveled to DC on January 6th of any other state.
“There is no place in office for lawmakers who betrayed their constituents and participated in the events of this fateful day,” said DLCC President Jessica Post. “House Republican Leader Todd Gilbert must denounce the presence of Republican delegates at the insurrection and finally hold his members accountable for their assault on democracy. The entire Virginia GOP remains complicit so long as they continue to support these legislators and accept donations from their campaigns.”
A total of seventeen state legislators who attended the insurrection remain in office today, including those in Virginia, and they have only doubled down on their efforts to spread misinformation about the election results. Senator Amanda Chase was among those who attended the Arizona “fraudit” in June and has since started calling for a similarly partisan and costly audit in Virginia. There is no evidence of fraud in Virginia’s election results, and President Biden carried the state by nearly ten points last year.
LaRock and McGuire both donated to the Virginia House Republicans’ campaign arm, and McGuire received financial support from gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin. In addition to the incumbent legislators, Virginia GOP candidate Marie March also attended the insurrection.
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